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Learn some Vietnamese words and phrases

Learning to speak a few words of local language while on your trip is always fun and greatly improve your experience. Let’s learn some words/phrases of Vietnamese while preparing your trip and you will have chance to talk/chat, make friends – however briefly – with the majority of locals who might not know your language and also give you a far greater appreciation of the Vietnamese culture. Below are some easy and popular phrases which I think will enhance your enjoyment, if you are interested to know a little more about our language, you can download here the phrasebook to sharpen your skills.

Simple Phrases

At the very minimum it is important to at least know how to say ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ – it takes moments to learn yet can make a big impression, as you will already know more than 90% of travelers arriving in Vietnam.

Addressing people

For Vietnamese people it is important to use the correct form of address than signifies your age and relationship to the person you are speaking to. In general, when talking to someone younger than you you may call them ‘Em’, or if you think you are younger than them you may call yourself ‘Em’ and use a range of pronouns based on the other person’s gender and age.

As a traveller however it is acceptable to ‘cheat’ and use a generic ‘Tôi’ for ‘I’ and ‘Ban’ for ‘Friend’, rather than finding the correct form of address – this is not disrespectful and will help you make yourself understood.

Pronunciation

Like the majority of South East and East Asian languages, Vietnam is a tonal language. This means that for each syllable there are six different tones that can change the meaning of a phrase.

Tones

Description

Sample word

Meaning

High rising

Má

Mother

Low falling

Mà

That

Start in a low tone, go down, and gently back up (I tend to imagine a bored butler – ‘Ye-es M’lud?’ )

Mả

Tomb

Start high, bring voice down, cut off and go back up*

Mã

Horse

Bring voice down and cut off abruptly (imagine a parent firmly saying ‘No.’)

Mạ

Rice Shoots

Mid range voice, go flat and level

Ma

Ghost

*This tone is very strong in the North around Hanoi where there is a perceptible ‘cut’ in the sound. In the South around Saigon people tend to speak in a more ‘smooth’ manner, and many would say this tone becomes almost identical to the low, rising tone above it (‘Ye-es, M’lud”)

Vietnamese Alphabet

Although the Vietnamese use the same alphabet as Latin languages such as English and French, some of the sounds are fairly different to their English equivalent. There are a few similarities with French, however.

Consonants

d

Like ‘z‘ as in zero

đ

Like ‘d‘ in English as do

g,gh

Like ‘g‘ in go

gi

Like ‘y‘ in yes

kh

Like ‘Karen’

nh

Like ‘n’ in Cognac

ng, ngh

Like Singer

ph

Like ‘f‘ in forest

r

Normal R in English

s

Normal S in English

t

As in Tan

th

As in Thump

tr

As in Train

v

As in Violet

Vowels

One rule to pronouncing vowels in Vietnam that is very useful to remember is that whenever you get two vowels together – for example ‘ui’ – the first vowel should have much more emphasis than the second – ‘ui’

a

As in father

ă

like ‘a’ in “father”, except said very quickly

â

As a in black

ai

I

ao

Loud

au

Ow

âu

As in go

ay

As in day

ây

As in David

e

Like in America

eo

Like meow-cat’s noise

ê

Like in café

i

Like in see

ia

Like in idia

ie

Like in yes

o

Like in door

oa

Like in Oasis

oai

Like in Why

oay

Like in Uruguay

e

Where

oi

Coin

ô

Joseph

ôi

Like in toy

ơ

Like in Burger

u

Like in Sue

ua

Like Ecuador

uê

Like in ‘Question’

ui

Like oo-ee

uy

Like ‘oui’ in French

uya

As French ‘Culture‘

uyen

When

y

Like letter ‘e‘

yeu

Like in few

More useful phrases

You can now pronounce most of the words, remember these useful phrases below.

At the restaurant

Restaurant

Nhà Hàng

Menu

Thực đơn

Food

Thức ăn

Drink (n)

Đồ uống

A pair of chopsticks

Đôi đũa

I am a vegetarian

Tôi ăn chay

Not too spicy

Không quá cay

No chilli please

Không ớt

No fish sauce

Không nướn mắm

Can I have the bill please?

Tính tiền

Delicious

Ngon quá

I am full

Tôi no rồi

Medium

Vừa

Rare

Tái

Well-done

Chín

Without

Không có

A little

Ít

Sugar

Đường

One more

Thêm một

One more beer

Thêm một bia

Meat

Thịt

Seafood

Hải sản

Chicken

Gà

Beef

Bò

Pork (South / North)

(Thit) Heo / Lợn

Fish

Cá

Squid

Mực

Prawns

Tôm

Crab

Cua

Soft shell crab

Cua lột

Fried / Deep Fried

Chiên

Stir fried

Xào

Grilled

Nướng

Steamed

Hấp

Stewed

Kho

With

Với

Fish sauce

Nước mắm

Stir fried chicken

Gà xào

Grilled chicken

Gà nướng

Morning glory

Rau muống

Water

Nước

Ice

Đá

Red wine

Rượu đỏ

White wine

Rượu trắng

Can I have the menu please?

Có thực đơn không?

Can I have chicken sate please

Tôi muốn gà sa tế

Can I have a glass of red wine please?

Tôi muốn một ly rượu đỏ

Getting Around

Do you use the meter?

Bạn có chạy theo đồng hồ không?

I like to go the cinema, please

Tôi muốn đi rạp chiếu phim

Motorbike Driver

Xe Ôm

Bicycle Rickshaw (Cyclo)

Xích Lô

Bus Station

Trạm Xe Buýt

Train Station

Ga Xe Lửa

Airport

Sân Bay

How much is it to go from here to Russian Market?

Đi chợ Nga bao nhiêu tiền?

That’s expensive, I pay 30,000 VND ?

Mắc quá, tôi trả ba mươi ngàn?

I’m in a hurry

Tôi đang vội

Please slow down!

Đi chậm lại!

I don’t want to die

Tôi không muốn chết!

Numbers, times + dates

Vietnamese numbers are quite easy to follow, as higher numbers use the same words as lower – for example, twenty five would be expressed as ‘Two Ten Five’, or 365 as ‘Three Hundred Six Ten Five’. This means that once you have learnt to count from one to ten other numbers are pretty easy.

There is one irregularity with numbers: since the word for 5 (Nam) is the same as for year(s) (Nam) it changes to ‘Lam’ avoid confusion, for example:

5 – Năm

20 years – Hai Mươi Năm

25 – Hai Mươi Lăm

55 – Năm Mươi Lăm

55 years – Năm Mươi Lăm Năm

0

Không

1

Một

2

Hai

3

Ba

4

Bốn

5

Năm

6

Sáu

7

Bảy

8

Tám

9

Chín

10

Mười

11

Mười một

12

Mười hai

13

Mười ba

14

Mười bốn

15

Mười lăm

16

Mười sáu

17

Mười bảy

18

Mười tám

19

Mười chín

20

Hai Mươi

21

Hai Mươi Mốt

30

Ba Mươi

32

Ba Mươi Hai

100

Một Trăm

1,000

Một Nghìn

100,000

Một Trăm Nghìn

1,000,000

Một Triệu

1 bn

Mot Tỷ / Tỉ

Money

Since money in Vietnam is demarcated in thousands it is acceptable to skip the ‘thousand dong’ when negotiating prices, or to use slang. Do note though that ‘Chuc’ is used more in the south and may not be recognised in the north.

1 $

Một đô

1 £

Một bảng

1,000 Dong

Một Nghìn Đồng

50,000 Dong

Năm Mươi (Nghìn đồng)

20, 000 / Twenty bucks (slang)

Hai Chục

50,000 / 50 bucks (slang)

Năm Chục

Units of Time

Minute

Phút

Hour

Giờ

Day

Ngày

Week

Tuần

Month

Tháng

Year

Năm

Days of the week

Monday

Thứ Hai (Day 2)

Tuesday

Thứ Ba (Day 3)

Wednesday

Thứ Tư (day 4)

Thursday

Thứ Năm (day 5)

Friday

Thứ Sáu (day 6)

Saturday

Thứ Bảy (day 7)

Sunday

Chủ Nhật (God’s day)

Shopping

A favourite activity for many travellers to Vietnam is shopping. With a huge range of unique crafts available Vietnam is a great place to find souvenirs, and thanks to cheap prices and very talented tailors it is also a popular place to have clothes made. By sprinkling some Vietnamese into your shopping not only will it be easier to get things you want but you may even get some better bargains too. Don’t forget to take a look at our section on dates, numbers and money too.